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Can you help us come up with a book title?

IVP are publishing a book by me on pomography in April 2010. And I heard today that InterVarsity are going to publish a US edition. But what to call it? IVP have asked for your feedback. What do you think of the following suggestions? Or can you come up with a better alternative?

XXXChange: Living Pom Free

XXXChange: Liberating Truth for Those Struggling with Pom

Pom Free: Captured by a Better Vision

Porn – the Naked Truth: Captured by a Better Vision

Captured by a Better Vision: Living Pom Free

Captured by a Better Vision: Liberating Truth for Those Struggling with Pom

I like XXXChange. It implies (1) changing pom, symbolised by the triple X, (2) said aloud it is ‘exchange’ which evokes the idea of exchanging pom for the promises of God; and (3) the X can stand for the cross – change through the cross. However, if you say it to someone then you need to spell if they are going to look it up on something like Amazon. Not sure how significant that is.

Pom Free is good except that people for a certain age will think of ‘Born Free’ the film about raising lion cubs.

I also like ‘Captured by a Better Vision’ as it sums up the central theme of the book and plays on the visual nature of pom. It does mean you need a subtitle with the word pom to make it explicit (if you’ll pardon the pun) what the book is about.

Any thoughts?

[As usual, because my blog software screens inappropriate words, I replaced the ‘rn’ of pom with an ‘m’ – but you get the idea – particularly if you read it quickly.]

I like the XXXChange: Captured by a better vision too. The problem with many of the titles is whether someone is going to walk into a bookstore and buy a book that basically says, “I watch porn.” Catch 22 I think because you want a direct title, but not to have an embarassment factore in buying it.

On the other hand, because most sales will probably be amazon.com, it is probably less of an issue.

Pom Free Living
Set Free (Liberating Truth for Those Struggling with Pom)
Life – Pom + Truth = Freedom
Rescued (Liberating Truth for Those Struggling with Pom)
Off The Hook (Liberating Truth for Those Struggling with Pom)

I think I like “Off The Hook” the best…could illustrate that well on the cover. It also gives the image of addiction…which we talk about all the time as it pertains to pom.

Don’t be stupid about the title. Have a bit of emotional intelligence please.

If it had porn in the title I wouldn’t be able to buy it. I also wouldn’t be able to read it. I would be worried about my wife/girlfriend seeing me buying it, or reading it and would be concerned that it would make people around me suspicious.

I strongly advise you to avoid putting anything on the cover that would cause embarrassment when browsing, when purchasing (it is mostly women selling books in Xtian bookshops in my experience).

If you can angle the sell more at “discipleship in an image saturated culture”, then you will significantly widen the appeal and possibility of the book.

This is one of the most important decisions in the journey of your book. Take a lot of advice if I were you.

I’m a strong believer in stating clearly what a book is about in the title. My weakest selling book – which I also think was my best book – is the one where this was not the case. So I doubt a book called ‘discipleship in an image saturated culture’ would grab someone who is struggling with pom and is looking for a way out. They would probably miss it. Besides this book may sell mostly through the internet.

Also, do people not buy books on marital conflict because they think the bookseller might think they have marriage problems? Perhaps. People also buy books for other people so people could not assume it was for the person buying the book. With this in mind we could go for something like, ‘Living pom free and helping others live pom free’.

I like “Pom Free: Captured by a Better Vision” or “Captured by a Better Vision: Living Pom Free.”

“captured by a better vision” is really helpful on a lot of levels. It puts the main sanctification/motivation dynamic right in the title. Once that “expulsive power of a new affection” idea is understood by reading the book, the title will continue to remind the reader what the fight for faith in temptation is all about.

Maybe this wouldn’t be a problem at all and I’m worrying over nothing but anything with “Pom Free” in the title, when searched for on Google or even an online bookshop stands a high chance of bringing up the same results you’d get for “Free Pom”. Someone struggling with a pom addiction would be put in a really difficult situation with a page full of those results.

Definitely keep the XXXchange. If I am addicted to porn I have to exchange it with something better! Saying no to porn will never work without saying yes to the pleasures that God has in store. :)
Looking forward to read the book :)

I also like Joseph’s suggestion XXXchange: Captured by a better vision. The triple X leaves you in no doubt that this is a book about pom addiction. If you don’t see that then you are probably not the target audience. As for the embarrassment about buying a book with pom in the title at a Christian bookshop. I would imagine most guys struggling with pom will be more likely to buy it the same place they view most pom – on the internet.

I think it is great you are doing this book. Good for you. I have only just started reading your books (shame on me!) and found You can Change very helpful and am enjoying your Busy book.

I was looking you up on the internet because Iwanted to contact you because I have a book idea for you…. another issue that like pom the church as a whole is not very open about. Please could you get in touch?

It was good to catch up with you again at the Eastern Counties Bible Convention in Felixstowe back in July and reminice about university days!

I like either of the “Captured by a Better Vision” titles because 1) it doesn’t sound cheesy like XXXsomething and 2) it gets at the dynamic that the only hope for those addicted to Pom is being captured by the greater offer of beauty and satisfaction that is offered to us in Jesus. I look forward to seeing this in print in the US!

Someone commented “Alternative title: The Secret of a Pom Free Life”, but i’m not sure about titles with “The secret of” in…its too gnostic, like if you only learn this secret you will suddenly be transformed (by spending some money of course)…I would therefore vere away from this approach…

When we were marketing my book, The Pornography Effect, we were concerned that even the difference between the word “effect” and the word “affect” would be enough to confuse potential customers and booksellers. We know what it’s like to be in that business and try to look up titles and hit a brick wall because the customer “heard about” the book, but never saw the title written anywhere.

I think the fact that Pom Free sounds like Free Pom, is a great thing. It’s another level to the title in that it reverses the norms. Also it might stick in people’s heads so when they see the phrase “free pom” it might make them remember the book. Likewise, it sounding like Born Free only makes the title more catchy, a bit like Driscoll’s Pom Again Christian. The XXX ideas are a bit cheesy and might sound like it’s produced by the XXXChurch people. The ‘captured’ elements are good too because pom captures people in a bad way, whereas Christ captures us in a way that sets us free.

So after all that (!!) I’d go for Pom Free: Captured By A Better Vision.

I like either ‘Captured by a Better Vision: Living Pom Free’ or ‘Captured by a Better Vision: Liberating Truth for Those Struggling with Pom’. I like the ‘captured by a better vision’ piece as it implies that it is not just about saying no to pom (which many people find extremely difficult) but about showing that when Christ becomes more attractive to people than pom then they can be free.